Fortunately, it was pretty warm where I went – back to Italy. You can fly direct to Bergamo, near Milan, from Newcastle if you’re prepared to get up early enough, but we stayed first in Arezzo in Tuscany, then moving on to Rome. Just planning the rail travel entailed was quite exciting – and then travelling at speeds of up to 298 kilometres per hour on the Frecciarossa train. How is it that other countries manage to have an infrastructure that works? – though admittedly our first train was 10 minutes late into Florence so that we missed our rather tight connection there (but the online ticket allowed you to change the connecting train from your phone which we did).
There’s so much that I could say about the holiday – so much that I need to reflect on myself. Should I have gone back to Rome when I was last there less than a year ago? Back in November 2024 there was a lot going on with building works in the city – most of it in preparation for the Jubilee Year which is being celebrated throughout 2025. The Jubilee itself had pushed prices up with more people than ever travelling there, but I wanted to see just what had been accomplished and to experience something of the celebrations. So I was glad that we were able to find somewhere reasonably priced. It was an apartment in an area I’d never been to before, quite a long way from the centre – and entailed travel via two different Metro lines. But having said that it was very near the station from which we emerged, and there were lots of places to eat well and far more cheaply than elsewhere.
We arrived in Rome at the same time as the King, who was there to pray with the Pope in the Sistine Chapel. We weren’t invited! Nor was a friend who works at the Anglican Centre in Rome. We met up with her on the morning of the service. She was actually invited to a service later in the day when the King was to be given a special seat at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls. I’m sorry there wasn’t more coverage of that service which was about re-forging the connection of our country and the monarchy with the Benedictine Community which maintains the life of the Papal Basilica.
But we didn’t have an invitation there either! However, the next day, we took ourselves off to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. The previous year, the queues had been so long that we hadn’t even tried to get in. This year, there was a massive crowd approaching St. Peter’s Square, but it was well-managed and before long we were through the security checks and in the line for the Basilica. We decided to enter via the Grotto where so many of the Popes are buried. I think the route might have changed, and it was the best visit I’ve paid. We emerged into the church right by the central altar. So many people – but a wonderful sense of prayer. More than that, the route through the Basilica directed visitors to the Holy Door – opened only in Jubilee Years for pilgrims. There was no sense of a rush as we re-entered the church to find ourselves by Michaelangelo’s Pieta, and then chapels and altars set aside for prayer.
On our final day in Rome we went to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore where Pope Francis is buried. Again, huge numbers – but well-handled. All are directed through another Holy Door with bronze reliefs of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. As I walked through I saw that Jesus’ hands extended from the door . It was a natural thing for me to place my hand in his - and what a sense I had of the mercy of God we find in him! So many others had done the same, the dull bronze polished bright by all who had held - and been held - by that hand. It’s a mercy we all need to share… MJ
No comments:
Post a Comment